How do you go about creating an outline?

Since this is more of a Basic Writing Question, I'm going to send it up to the proper forum.

It's always been a simple process:

1. Think of where the story should go.
2. Write down results of #1
3. Rethink and change where necessary

Though there are many, many books regarding this topic--and I think I've purchased just about every single one of 'em--the most basic form of outlining is:

Your opening--begin as you mean to end your story
A list of ideas in the order you want them to happen supporting your story
At the end of each idea, how that said idea ends with a cliffhanger and leads into the next sequential idea

A list of subplots you want to make sure happen

And then you write.

If you spend too much time on your outline, the story sometimes has a tendency to lose excitement for you as you create. As your story evolves, you can flip back to your basic outline and jot down notes to self making sure that some new twist you hadn't thought of in the beginning will coincide with the rest of your outline and where you're going with your story--or enable you to make appropriate changes.

I write the first draft without an outline. I am now using the first draft (edited) as my outline for the second draft. I find that if I try to do an outline with the first draft, I keep drawing blanks. On the other hand, if I wing it with the first draft, I finish it. It then serves me as a guidepost for the rewrites. Hope this helps.
Jane

I treat each chapter like a short story. I tend to edit one at a time, but as logical flaws or neat ideas occur to me in other places, I'll write that in.

If you can do short stories, you can do a novel.

I'm not a natural outliner, but I tried it for a dare and simply wrote a list of plot points. Re-jigged some, took some away, added others, but it was pretty easy to cut-and-paste in MS Word.

I don't. I just write the book.

Sometimes I jot down the important turning points somewhere (and then promptly lose the file or page) and start writing.

I used to outline fairly extensively, with little bits of dialogue and such stuff, and then I realized that was never the book I actually wrote, so I stopped doing it. I was much happier.

Since this is your first book, it's all experimentation so please try to be open to the fact that there is no single way to write a book--it's all trial and error. If you feel you need an outline, then start by writing down what you know of the events in the story. That might be all you need to start scenes coming to mind. Maybe you need to flesh it out a bit with more cause and effect. Maybe you need to write out all the dialogue, or all the actions or all the anything before you can get started. Maybe you only need to figure out the next couple scenes ahead of where you are before you're writing away.

It's all trial and error--so try something and see how it works for you. If it doesn't work, then you've learned that much and are free to try something else. It's part of the joy, challenge and frustration of this particular artform. As long as you keep your senses of adventure and humor intact, you should be good to go.

Good luck to you.

Alexandra Sokoloff (sp?) has a great series on the Three Act Structure on her blog.

I pretty much follow a similar process. I like to know my major set pieces (the big turning point events), character goals, and the big reveals, plot them out roughly where they'll happen, then dive in and let my characters work their way there. I like to build a structure to write on, but let my characters and the story develop from there. It gives me a nice mix of planned pieces vs spontaneous writing.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call what I did outlining (and time will tell if it was successful)...

I went with a three act structure centered around three key events with one event acting as a doorway to each act. I kept index cards on which I jotted down ideas for different scenes as they came to me. Not all of the scenes went in and other scenes were added as I wrote.I only did this with the main plot. The subplots sprung up as I wrote.

I usually start by writing down what I already know about the story.

A brief synopsis of the MC's backstory and the inciting incident, whatever goal they are trying to achieve and possibly some of the obstacles facing him/her.

Then I start writing down individual plot points. I arrange them in what seems to be a logical progression, look for holes and think about what might fill them. For me, the outline is my rough draft. I use it to think through the story from beginning to end. If I have a bunch of scenes but I don't know what order they should go in I use index cards because it is much easier to shuffle them around than to cut and paste in a word processing program. Once I'm pretty confident about the flow of events I type everything up in a single document.

Then I tend to put it away and write the first draft ignoring the outline. But that's just me. And it's always there if I need it.

Well first I tend to write a broad novel summary. Nothing too detailed, just the general idea of the story. It generally ends up being about 2 pages or so single spaced but sometimes I have less.

After that I do a more specific chapter-by-chapter summary. Some chapters are pretty brief and others can be detailed depending on what pops into my head for that particular chapter.

Of course, I don't always stick to this outline; many times as I'm writing the story takes me in a slightly different direction. I then try and fix my outline to reflect this because it can help me see where there may be plot issues.

Anyway, try not to focus too much on the outlining process. There's no set way of doing it. Some people use a notecard method while others will go even more detailed than what I've said. And others don't use outlines at all. It all depends on what works for you.

Just worth noting--I came from short stories and also had problems with longer works fizzling out. The two forms are very different--I had to do an outline of sorts to help me work through it.

A couple of things worth noting, though. A novel is not a long short story. Nor should chapters be thought of as short stories. That was something I had to learn because it's very easy to stay in the short story mindset and then run into problems, as you noticed, with fizzing out. A novel is a completely different animal than a short story.

I experimented with a lot of different outlines, trying to find the right one for me (and still am not sure I've found one). I do recommend reading the Marshall Plan for Novel Writing, even if you don't play well with Evan Marshall's outline. In spite of the fact I couldn't use his outline, I did gain a better understanding of how a novel should be structured.

For whatever it's worth, my outline is a simple bulleted list. I didn't do well if I tried to map out scenes. It felt too structured for me, and I always crashed and burned when I hit the subplots (because of my short story background, it appears that I am unable to do subplots, so I have to make a substitution in). So I did a list of four or five items for each chapter that looked like:

• Backstory about main character
• Main Character finds missing girl
• Monster finds main character

Not a lot of detail--just hitting the high points. I even identified a specific word count for each chapter and used Excel to total it so I could see when my outline mapped out to the word count (I wish I could say that helped; I still ran short anyway).

A useful piece of information: Make use of everything. If your character stops to get information from a waitress, ask yourself if there's something else you can use her for. The same thing for places and events that happen.

Well done, all. My 2 cents:

I've taken to outlining in recent years and nowadays have started using two different templates. Yep, I tend to ramble in all sorts of directions when working on long pieces. So here is what I use to stay on track:

The first one is the Hero's Journey, a basic template I recently acquired. See if you can spot my clarifications if you're familiar with it:

Archetype:
Romantic Lead's Journey:
Inciting Incident:
Ordinary World and Ordinary Self :
Call to Adventure:
Interdiction or Dangers of Leaving the Safety Zone:
Mentors, Spells and Gifts:
First Threshold:
Belly of the Whale:
Physical Separation:
Transformation Mentor or Drill Sergeant factor:
Trials and Transformation:
Meeting the Oracle / Ideal:
Seizing the Sword:
Night Sea Journey :
Near Death Experience:
Rebirth:
Atonement with the Father:
Apotheosis, or the Epiphany:
Ultimate Boon :
Refusal of the Return / Point of No Return:
Magic Flight (New World, New Self) :
Rescue from Without :
Crossing of the (No?) Return Threshold :
Final Conflict or I Love You Too Moment:
Master of the Two Worlds and Selves (Vindication):
Freedom to Live:
AfterLife Act :

The second one which I've used for awhile now is the Beat Sheet, presented by Blake Snyder in his Save The Cat book. Designed for movie scripts, but I think anyone could benefit from using it (with his original notes included):

1) Opening image (1): opening and closing image should be opposites. The opening image sets the tone, mood and style of the movie.

2) Theme stated (5): in the first five minutes of a well-structured SP, someone (usually not the main character) will pose a question of make a statement (usually to the main character) that is the theme of the movie. This statement is the movie’s thematic premise.

3) Set-up (1-10): Make sure you introduce or hint at all A-story characters. Plant every character tic, exhibit every behavior that needs to be addressed later and how how/why the hero will need to change in order to win. Create the laundry list you must SHOW the audience of what is missing in the hero’s life. These little time bombs will be exploded later in the script, turned on their heads and cured.

4) Catalyst (12): the first life-changing moment (often a move to a new location, a trip, an announcement, etc.)

5) Debate (12-25): the main character struggling with the decision made during the catalyst. It must ask a question of some kind and the main character must answer it.

6) Break into two or the 23% Solution(page #): something big happens. The break between act 1 and act 2. The hero cannot be lured into the act 2 new situation but must make the decision himself.

7) B story (30): a new relationship is revealed and new characters are introduced. It serves as a way to openly discuss the theme of the movie and give the writer the opportunity to take occasional breaks from the A story.

8) Fun and games (30-55): the promise of the premise, the core and essence of the movie’s poster. This is where most of the trailer moments of a movie are found. Usually lighter in tone than the other sections of the SP.

9) Midpoint (55): the fun and games are over and the stakes are raised at mid-point. The character has reached the point of no return and cannot “go back” to the life he/she had before. A false victory.

10) Bad guys close in (55-75): internal dissent, doubt and jealousy begin to cause the hero to regret the decision made at mid-point. The forces that are aligned against the hero, internal or external, tighten their grip. There is nowhere for the hero to go for help. He is on his own and must endure. He is headed for a huge fall.

11) All is lost (75): a false defeat that makes it look like, for the hero, that all is lost. All aspects of the hero’s life are in shambles. Wreckage abounds. No hope. Also may contain “the whiff of death” where a major character dies, the hero contemplates suicide or someone/something ceases to exist.

12) Dark night of the soul (75-85): can last five seconds or five minutes. It’s the darkness immediately before the light. It is the point just before the hero reaches way, deep down and pulls out that last ditch effort.

13) Break into three (85): the hero discovers/decides upon the solution usually as a result of conversations with the B story characters. This is where the A and B story meet.

14) Finale (85-110): the wrap-up, where the lessons learned are applied. The problem is dispatched completely and the hero changes the world.

15) Final image (110):

This should get you started. Good luck!

Mod edit: giving Blake Snyder some extra credit since we're quoting his material, take a peek at this screenwriting guru's website and check out the Tools link for many helpful/informative tips.

I found this post by Lisa Gardner very helpful for outlining:

http://www.lisagardner.com/tricks/article_pdfs/plotting.pdf

I use a method that I guess is pretty unknown. Elizabeth Lyon's book, "A Writer's Guide to Fiction" (which is EXTREMELY helpful for people that are not accustomed to outlining - I strongly recommend it), encourages writers, especially those writing complex novel plots, to create what she calls a "Novel Notebook". You basically take a binder and insert different "sections" like Plot, Characters, Research, Miscellaneous, etc. and put information on your story in. To give you an example, in my Novel Notebook I have Plot, Characters, Research, Artwork and Misc. In Plot I have plot diagrams, chapter-by-chapter plans, synopses, etc. In characters I have, well, profiles and histories. My ton of research is contained in the Research section. Artwork contains maps and drawn floorplans of different settings of my story. Misc contains everything else.

You might try this too. Planning a story in a concise manner takes time, sometimes a lot of time (it took me a month, although my book is a mammoth), but it's worth it. I truly believe my Novel Notebook is the main reason my novel idea has not fizzled and failed like the others. Good luck!

I used to not outline, but for some reason I've gotten to that point in my life when I can't stick to something unless I have an outline. Basically, I spent an entire day doing nothing but research on Boston, the Victorian era in the 1850s, and abortions in the
19th century. Then, I spent the next day just outlining everything. I don't do incredibly detailed outlines because I like to allow myself some wiggle room, allow the story to surprise me in ways my outline hadn't predicted. But the outline is enough to keep me going, enough to prevent writer's block, and enough so I don't wind up in confusing plot twists and traps. That was the mistake I made with Witch Tourniquet, but I'm fixing that now.

I'm certainly no expert, but I've found outlining really useful for keeping myself focused. I initially did it as I had a fairly clear picture of the story progression and didn't want to lose any of it once I started writing. But since then I've found it really useful to go back and update the outline after I've finished each chapter. That way I don't lose sight of the original story but also add to it as character development and events become clearer.

I've never been so organised in the past but I've found it really works for me.

Silent

Everybody has a different way of doing it. Whatever works for you is fine. I write out my story's plot in present-tense, using roughly one paragraph per chapter or major scene. Here's an example from the revised outline for my current WIP. These are the chapters I'm going to write tonight and tomorrow, so I might as well post 'em here since I'm about to tackle them.

Please pardon the occasional use of coarse language. I keep it loose and informal in my outlines. I write in "Libbie-ese" here so I know exactly what I'm talking about.

A few weeks later, at the Beautiful Feast of the Valley of Waset, a major celebration, ahmose is riding a litter alone in a procession. Tjepu tries to warn her to play ill, to not go to the procession. A small group of furtive-looking young men and women heckle her, calling her an adultress and accusing her of fucking her steward. She is mortified, has the guards give chase. One of them drops a bracelet that she recognizes as mutnofret’s. mutnofret has paid them off to publicly accuse her.
Ahmose beats mutnofret. Mutnofret confirms that she is carrying another child. Mutnofret screams at tut for not naming either boy heir. Tut, seeing how destroyed his wives’ relationship is and how it tears at ahmose, and all she gave up to come back to the palace and live under mutnofret’s shadow again, is forgiving and expresses his love for her. She finally sees that the only way for her to secure her place with tut, to dispel rumors of adultery, and to put mutnofret in her place is to conceive a child, tut’s heir. She leaves for the temple for an all-nighter.
Dream scene.
Tut is still distressed from his wives’ fight. He comes to see ahmose while she sleeps. She gets it on with him.

Click to expand...

The outline doesn't have anywhere near the same voice I use when writing "the real stuff." I don't care about anything in my outlines other than working out major plot points and generally noting what each of my characters is thinking or feeling at this point in the story. As you can see, I also throw in notes about time or age in order to make sure I'm describing the timeline of the story correctly.

Note that this text file is called "New Outline for Part 2." The outline was very different before. As I wrote, I got some ideas and allowed my characters to do what "felt" natural for them, and this changed the story as I went along. It also added on about 30,000 words. But I think it's a much stronger story than it would have been if I'd religiously stuck to my original outline.

The outline for Part 3 will probably change as well.

I hope that helps!

I have only just started using outlines, but what I have learned is that they don't need to stay the same and you can change it. Which is possibly why I have it one a word document so I can change it whenever.

But you have to have a story idea in your head and at least a small idea of where you want your story to go. You might want to think about your ending and how everything will add up to the final chapter. I totally hate it when people write stories, and all of a sudden the ending comes out of nowhere. You don't need to know all the details, but having at least a small idea will come in handy.

I think that you also have to remember the characters. When do they come in? The first chapter? The second? The thirteenth? Having an actual idea of when you want new characters to come in, can also help you in the long run. Having no idea whatsoever will just confuse you. And if you're confused, the readers will be to.

write the story in one page.
divide that page into chapters/segments
(if you only get 10-15 chapters to start,
thats a start).
now write one page of what the MC sees/does.
one page of what the antagonist sees/does.
another page, on what neither see or do.
now lay those pages side by side, and
go over all this %$#& you have written.
Now write one sentence for each chapter.
now write a paragraph for each chapter.

or . . .
kinda know where you're going
and wing it, and write the details down
as you go.

No matter how well you plan it though,
the creative juices will flow the story
into subplots, flashbacks, twists, betrayal,
and well whatever your imagination can
think of. Watch and be amazed as your
story grows right before your eyes.

I outline in my head. Basically I try to grasp what the story is all about, and also imagine a few key scenes in my head, like it was a movie or something.